Autonomy: Life Cycle, Gender, and Status among Himalayan Pastoralists

The question of individuality in non-European, and especially South Asian societies is a controversial one. Studies in anthropology and psychology undertaken in recent years on concepts of person and self approach the problem by concentrating on ideologies; the question of practice remains largely neglected. This is the first study to examine the individual-dividual debate empirically from the - emic - perspective of decision making, observed over a two-year period among the Bakkarwal, Himalayan Muslim pastoralists. Of particular significance is the fact that the author bases her approach on the life cycle and on gender and status differences.

Aparna Rao (1950-2005) spent many years doing ethnographic fieldwork among numerous rural and semi-rural communities in Afghanistan, Kashmir and in western India, and published several books and papers based on her research.